River Forest School Fight Goes To Court

March 03, 1997|By Joanne von Alroth. Special to the Tribune.

A group of River Forest residents trying to keep a local school building intact have gone to court to halt Wednesday's scheduled auction to sell the property for residential development, an attorney for the residents said.

Mary Drake, an attorney for the River Forest Neighborhood School Group, said Friday that she filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in Cook County Circuit Court against River Forest Elementary School District 90.

The motion seeks to stop the district's auction of the Washington School building, 7970 W. Washington Blvd.

The group has lodged formal complaints against District 90 and River Forest, alleging that village trustees illegally approved a zoning variation in December that would allow the school property to be subdivided into five lots.

The neighborhood school group seeks a permanent injunction against demolition of the school building. The group also seeks a declaratory judgment against the zoning variation, alleging that is invalid because only three of River Forest's trustees voted to support it.

A hearing on the motion and the complaints is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge Robert Boharic.

The school has been the focus of recent architectural debate among residents and officials of River Forest and neighboring Oak Park.

Leased to Alcuin Montessori School until June 30, the building was designed by Dwight Heald Perkins and his son, Lawrence, in 1929 and named Washington School.

Opponents of Washington School's demolition also include officials and parents at Alcuin, some architects and preservationists and residents of both villages.

The building is set for inclusion by the state Landmarks Preservation Council as one of Illinois' 10 most endangered buildings.

District 90 officials note, however, that much of the school's original design has been demolished over the years.

Officials have said they desperately need the money from the sale of the school property to help pay for a $2.3 million expansion at Lincoln, Roosevelt and Willard Schools over the next year to accommodate rising enrollment.

District officials said they could raise three-quarters of that by dividing the Washington property into five residential lots.

But the the neighborhood school group's attorney said district easily could have found the cash without demolishing the school building.

"There's a ready-made solution here," Drake said. "Alcuin has wanted to buy that property since June."

Alcuin board members declined to bid on the property, however, when they learned in December that the building would have to be torn down under the newly approved ordinance, she said.